1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a structure of installation for installing an automotive component used for a wire harness, such as an electric connecting box or a protector, on a body panel of a motor vehicle or other vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 8 shows an example of the related art corresponding to this type of a structure of installation.
An electric connecting box 80, as shown in FIG. 8, includes a main body 81, a cover 85 for covering an opening of the main body 81 and a not-shown junction block being received in the main body 81. The junction block has functional components, such as a relay, a fuse and a connector, and a bus bar being laminated on an insulating baseboard.
A locking portion 82 is provided on the main body 81 and an engaging portion 86 for engaging with the locking portion 82 is provided on a cover 85. The main body 81 and the cover 85 are fitted closely by means of engaging the locking portion 82 with the engaging portion 86 to prevent water from penetrating into the electric connecting box for protecting functional components when the electric connection box is splashed with water.
L-shape or inverted L-shape mounting brackets 83 are provided at both side walls of the main body 81, and a mounting portion 84 having a bolt inserting opening 84a is formed at a flat portion of a front end of the mounting bracket 83. The bolt insertion opening 84a is not threaded but is formed into a so-called unloaded hole. When displacement of position exists between the main body 81 and the body of motor vehicle, the displacement of position can be absorbed in order to form the bolt insertion opening 84a into an unloaded hole.
Nuts 88 are welded at predetermined positions on a body panel 87 of a not-shown body of motor vehicle. The mounting portions 84 of the main body 81 are placed correspondingly to the nuts 88. Usually, the electric connecting boxes 80 are fixed at an engine room and at the body panel 87 surrounding an instrument panel in a motor vehicle.
For mounting the electric connecting box 80 on the body panel 87, the electric connecting box 80 can be fixed on the body of motor vehicle by means of positioning holes 88a of the nuts 88 on the body panel 87 and the bolt insertion openings 84a of the mounting portions 84 to be coaxial, inserting clamping bolts 89 into the bolt insertion openings 84a, and tightening the clamping bolts 89.
For dismounting the electric connecting box 80 from the body of motor vehicle, the electric connecting box 80 can be easily removed from the body of motor vehicle by means of removing clamping bolts 89 from nuts 88, doing an operation by inverse process against mounting operation mentioned above.
Objects to be Solved
Usual structure of installation by prior art mentioned above has following drawback to be solved.
Operation of mounting and dismounting the electric connection box is inefficient. Many electronic devices and functional components are located at the vicinity of an engine room and an instrument panel of a motor vehicle where the electric connecting boxes are mounted, and many electric wires are placed at the same area. Therefore, it is not easy to obtain a space for mounting the electric connection box 80 and there is almost no extra room. Fastening/unfastening the clamping bolts 89 at such small area requires operation in poor posture and may deteriorate operatability thereof.
When a motor vehicle is scrapped, electric wires and automotive components are necessarily removed from a body panel 87 for recycling. In a structure of installation by using a clamping bolt 89 and a nut 88, the clamping bolt 89 being fastened tightly once cannot be removed easily at insufficient working area to hinder in recycling.
On the other hand, the main body 81 and the cover 85 of the electric connection box 80 may be formed with synthetic resin by injection molding. Therefore, displacements of position between the bolt insertion openings 84a of the mounting portions 84 and nuts 88 may be caused by expansion, shrinkage, warpage or deformation after injection molding. When displacement of position exist, the electric connection box 80 may not be fixed on the body panel 87 in case. To prevent displacement of position, controlling accuracy of dimension about the electric connection box 80 by molding may be required so that extra operation is required and productivity is deteriorated.
When displacement of position between the bolt insertion openings 84a and nuts 88 by deformation or the like exists, if the electric connection box 80 is mounted forcibly on the body panel 87 to deform the electric connection box 80, the electric connection box 80 may be cracked on a wall or damaged. When the electric connection box 80 is deformed, sealing effect between the main body 81 and the cover 85 is deteriorated so that water may penetrate into the electric connection box 80 through a gap.
To overcome the above drawback of prior art, one object of this invention is to provide a structure of installation which can easily mount a device on a body panel and dismount the device from the body panel, and can fix the device securely, and can improve recyclability.
How to Attain the Object
In order to attain the objects, a structure of installation for installing automotive components on a body of motor vehicle includes a mounting portion provided on the automotive component, a supporting portion provided on the body of motor vehicle, and a magnet placed on either one of the mounting portion or supporting portion. The other of the mounting portion or supporting portion is made of a ferromagnetic material, and the mounting portion and the supporting portion are joined by magnetic force.
According to the structure mentioned above, the body panel and the automotive component are attracted mutually by magnetic force so that the automotive component can be mounted securely on the body panel by one operation. When dismounting the automotive component from the body panel, sliding the mounting portion of the automotive component along shearing plane by applying property of magnetic force which along shearing plane is weaker, the automotive component can be dismounted easily from the body.
The structure of installation mentioned above is characterized by that the magnet is mounted on the mounting portion, and the supporting portion is made of a ferromagnetic material.
According to the structure mentioned above, the mounting portion of the automotive component has a magnet so that the automotive component can be fixed on unrestricted position of the body panel by attracting magnetic force without paying attention to positioning accuracy of the mounting bracket to be inserted by clamping bolts. Therefore, operatability of mounting automotive components is improved.
The structure of installation, mentioned above, further includes a slide portion provided on the mounting portion and a guide portion formed at the supporting portion for engaging slidingly with the slide portion.
According to the structure mentioned above, the slide portion is inserted into the guide portion and engaged slidingly with the guide portion. Therefore, the slide portion is positioned in a direction perpendicular to sliding direction so that the automotive component is fixed on the body panel without chattering motion.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that the magnet is surrounded by a yoke made of a ferromagnetic material between the mounting portion and the magnet, and an end portion of the yoke performs as the sliding portion.
According to the structure mentioned above, the magnet is covered with the yoke so that the magnetic flux is concentrated by preventing surrounding magnetic flux leakage of the magnet and then magnetic flux density of the magnet is increased. Furthermore, the end portion of the yoke performs as the sliding portion so that the sliding portion is magnetized by magnetic induction of the magnet and then magnetic force at the mounting portion is enlarged.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that the mounting portion and the yoke are joined together by integral molding or the like, and the yoke and the magnet are fixed together by means of press-fitting, adhesive or the like.
According to the structure mentioned above, the mounting portion and the yoke are formed integrally by insert molding or the like so that adhesion of contact surfaces between the mounting portion and the yoke is increased to prevent the yoke from removing from the mounting portion. Furthermore, the yoke and the magnet are fixed together by means of press-fitting or the like so that the magnet is prevented from falling out of the yoke.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that a jig-pin inserting portion is formed between the mounting portion and the supporting portion, and a jig-pin is for removing the mounting portion from the supporting portion.
According to the structure mentioned above, the jig-pin inserting portion is formed so that automotive components can be dismounted easily from the body of motor vehicle by inserting the jig-pin into the jig-pin inserting portion and rising the jig-pin to remove the mounting portion from the supporting portion.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that an abutting portion against the mounting portion is formed at an almost deep area of the guide portion.
According to the structure mentioned above, pushing the mounting portion into the supporting portion and sliding the mounting portion, the mounting portion abuts on the abutting portion located along a direction of sliding and the automotive component is positioned in a direction of sliding.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that an abutting portion against the mounting portion is formed at an almost deep area of the guide portion, and a step portion for the mounting portion is formed at an entry area of the guide portion.
According to the structure mentioned above, the mounting portion abuts on the abutting portion located along a direction of sliding to be positioned in a direction of sliding and the mounting portion abuts on the step portion to be prevented from coming out in an opposite direction of sliding so that the mounting portion is positioned between the abutting portion and the step portion in both directions of sliding.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that the supporting portion is made of sheet metal by means of folding and a slide space for inserting the mounting portion is formed between the metal sheet being folded.
According to the structure mentioned above, the supporting portion is made of sheet metal by folding and the mounting portion is inserted into the slide space between the metal sheet being folded and clamped by the sheet metal. Therefore, an automotive component is mounted securely on the body panel without chattering motion and prevented from falling out by vibration.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that the magnet is a ferrite magnet, a rare-earth magnet, the other sintered magnet or a bonded magnet.
According to the structure mentioned above, when using the sintered magnet, magnetic flux density of the magnet is high and then a holding force is increased so that attracting magnetic force for preventing an automotive component from being removed from the body panel is maintained even if demagnetization is occurred by vibration or temperature change. When using a bonded magnet, vibration of a vehicle is absorbed by elasticity of the magnet so that stability of attracting force of the magnet is improved.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that the magnet is a multipole magnet which is magnetized alternately with multiple magnetic poles.
According to the structure mentioned above, the magnet provided on the mounting portion is a multipole magnet and then outward magnetic flux leakage of the magnet is decreased and magnetic flux density of the magnet is increased. Therefore, the magnetic force is enlarged and an automotive component is prevented from falling out of a body panel.
The structure of installation mentioned above is further characterized by that the mounting portion is provided on a main body of an electric connecting box, or a mounting bracket or a protector of a wire harness of the electric connecting box.
According to the structure mentioned above, the electric connecting box or the protector is fixed on a body panel by magnetic force without using bolts and nuts. Therefore, mounting/dismounting an automotive component can be done easily and recyclability of automotive components is improved.
The above and other objects and features of this invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.